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ARTIST
TITLE
The Floor Is Lava
FORMAT
CD
LABEL
CATALOG #
KOMP 184CD
KOMP 184CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
11/1/2024
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Michael Mayer albums don't come round too often, which is one of many reasons why his fourth collection, The Floor Is Lava, is a genuine event. Mayer's name on a record sleeve is a sign of quality, of music that's both looking to the future and calling back to the past, that balances the imperatives of the dancefloor and the loungeroom, that's as exploratory as it is functional. On The Floor Is Lava, Mayer seems to be taking the temperature of both the music that surrounds him (past and present), and the ideas of the industry he works within. There's that iconic album title, for a start. For Mayer, it's partly a critique of the way the industry boxes in both producer and listener, focuses them on genre, on market, on the next new thing. With The Floor Is Lava, the result is an album that's varied, quixotic, idiosyncratic, charming, and deeply, addictively listenable. Throughout, Mayer finds thrills in exploration and juxtaposition, allowing unexpected things to blossom and giving them their life, their platform, throwing the listener exciting curveballs. Either easily bored, or endlessly curious, The Floor Is Lava is rich with ideas. Mayer mentions Pal Joey, and the scene around Rockers Hi-Fi and their Different Drummer imprint, as reference points, and you can hear that freewheeling spirit throughout. There's psychedelic techno on "Feuerstuhl", more minimal techno with "Ardor," slippery, Shepard-tone breakbeat through "Sycophant", a lovely, lush vocal turn on the poppy "The Solution." The album closes with the melancholy "Süßer Schlaf", where Mayer sets a poem by Goethe to one of his most haunted, moving pieces of music yet, in an abstract tribute to a lost friend. It's one of the most affecting moments on The Floor Is Lava. There's also an update on 2020's wild Brainwave Technology EP, with the surrealist glitter-stomp of "Brainwave 2.0," where Mayer's thinking about the socio-political precipice of the now. An album for the easily bored and the endlessly curious. Mayer has the last word, telling us all you need to know about the album's spirit: "Burning for the cause, being zealous, being addicted to the heat of the night, the exuberant powers of music."
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